Amor y Muerte

Synopsis: An erotic 16th Century period drama, the film examines the initial encounter between the Indios (natives) and their colonizers (Spaniards) and their conflicting views on love, passion, religion and sexuality.

MTRCB Rating: R-16

Running Time: 104 mins.

Trailer:

Reviews:

4.0 Rob San Miguel (Brun Magazine)

“Despite functioning as historical archetypes, most of Evangelista’s cast gave layered and nuance performances; most notably, Althea Vega, who sizzles on screen reminding most moviegoers what an ideal Filipina actress should look like. ” (Read full review)

3.75 Irvin Malcolm Contreras (A Girl and a Gun)

“I really genuinely admired the ambition of the filmmakers. Making a relatively low-budget period piece is a challenge. Also tackling many heady themes like colonialism, sexuality, religion, culture, etc. is refreshing in Filipino cinema. But the film’s a bit flawed.” (Read capsule review)

3.5 Ihcahieh

“Here is hoping that people who watch this could see beyond the graphic content, and come up with a similar conclusion that involves some extra brain exercise.” (Read full review)

3.0 Phillip Cu-Unjieng (The Philippine Star)

“What the film has in spades are beautifully choreographed and edited scenes of lovemaking. There are consistent shafts of humor as the lines are delivered.” (Read full review)

2.5 Nicol Latayan (Tit for Tat)

“All in all, I’d say that Amor Y Muerte’s strength lies in Vega’s performance and its technical achievements than what it wants to say in its story.” (Read capsule review)

2.0 Skilty Labastilla (Young Critics Circle)

“By setting the story in a specific historical context, it is imperative that said context play a crucial part in shaping the narrative, otherwise, it would be no more different from Western X-rated films (like Pirates or TheNaughty Victorians) that use locale and period costume as mere backdrop to the humping scenes.” (Read full review)

2.0 Nick Fortuna (Katipunan)

“The story is convoluted, the big moments feel forced and none of the characters are very likable.” (Read full review)

“Here the native characters are either idiotic, treacherous, scheming or depraved, motivated with unvaryingly unsympathetic traits.” (Read full review)

1.0 Philbert Dy (Click the City)

“The movie is poorly staged, badly acted, and irredeemably trite. It operates only in the most obvious of symbols, populating the screen with flowers and snakes and every other kind of visual double entendre. Meanwhile, the characters languish and the narrative never gets anywhere that isn’t painfully obvious.” (Read full review)

1.0 Fred Hawson (Fred Said)

“Ultimately, Amor y Muerte is simply soft porn flimsily disguised as a historical commentary about the bad effects of Spanish colonization and the Catholic Church on Filipino pre-colonial life and culture. ” (Read full review)